Mono, Africa’s leading open banking platform, has been acquired by payments giant Flutterwave in a deal its founder says was driven by strategic conviction rather than financial pressure, as both companies move to deepen financial infrastructure across the continent.
The acquisition brings together Mono’s open banking and data infrastructure with Flutterwave’s continental scale and payment network, a combination both parties describe as aimed at accelerating the delivery of modern financial services to African businesses. Despite the transaction, Mono will continue to operate as an independent entity.
Explaining the rationale behind the deal, Abdulhamid Hasaan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mono, says the decision followed majority approval from the company’s shareholders and board, but was fundamentally shaped by a long-term strategic alignment with Flutterwave’s vision.
“An acquisition was not on our radar,” Hasaan says. “Mono’s growth curve, product, and team are stronger than ever, and the future of open banking has never been more exciting. This decision was not driven by necessity, but by conviction.”
According to him, the opportunity to combine Mono’s pioneering open banking technology with Flutterwave’s reach across African markets created a path to scale faster and set continent-wide standards for consent-based financial services.
“Our goal is to make open banking a true reality, establishing consent-based verification, payment and trust as the new standard across the continent,” Hasaan says.
He stresses that the acquisition will not disrupt Mono’s existing services or partnerships.
“Mono will continue to operate as an independent entity. There will be no disruption to our service for partners and end-users across our product suite,” he says. “In fact, you should expect more innovation, deeper infrastructure and scale.”
“An acquisition was not on our radar,” Hasaan says. “Mono’s growth curve, product, and team are stronger than ever, and the future of open banking has never been more exciting. This decision was not driven by necessity, but by conviction.”
Hasaan says customers should anticipate stronger performance across Mono’s core data and identity products, alongside new offerings in alternative payment methods. He adds that Flutterwave’s extensive network will enable deeper and broader connections with financial institutions across Africa, significantly expanding Mono’s reach.
From Flutterwave’s perspective, the acquisition is being positioned as an infrastructure upgrade rather than a simple product addition. Olugbenga Agboola, Flutterwave’s Founder and CEO, says integrating Mono’s open banking and account-based payment capabilities strengthens the foundation of Flutterwave’s platform.
“By bringing Mono’s world-class open banking and accounts-based payment infrastructure into the Flutterwave ecosystem, we are doing more than just adding a tool; we are upgrading the engine,” Agboola says. “We are making payments more inclusive, more interoperable and more powerful for every user on the continent.”
He highlights the impact on small and medium-sized enterprises, which he describes as the backbone of Africa’s economy, noting that the combined infrastructure will significantly reduce barriers to entry.
“Verification that could take days will now happen in seconds,” Agboola says. “You will have smarter transactions and a more robust, secure way to understand and verify your customers. We are giving businesses the tools to explore new realms of commerce that weren’t possible yesterday.”
For the wider ecosystem, the acquisition is expected to accelerate open banking innovation by enabling faster payments, lending and embedded finance, while connecting African businesses more seamlessly to the global economy.
It also deepens infrastructure capabilities by combining Mono’s open banking data layer with Flutterwave’s payment processing scale, creating a comprehensive platform to power modern financial products across Africa. In addition, Mono’s identity and verification tools are expected to strengthen Flutterwave’s offerings by reducing fraud, streamlining onboarding and enabling more sophisticated financial services.
For Hasaan, the decision ultimately reflects a belief that open banking in Africa has reached a point where scale matters as much as innovation.
“This is about building the rails for the next phase of Africa’s financial system,” he says. “Together, we can move faster and set standards that benefit the entire ecosystem.”
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